The theme of today in Catering and Buffet was SALAD! And none too soon-- I've far exceeded my "meat-before-noon" quota for the month. It's nice to munch on something lighter...
The dish I was responsible for today was the (shocking) Dill Shrimp Salad. I swear to you that I in no way call for or gravitate toward shrimp dishes-- they find me. Despite being slathered in mayo (usually a huge turnoff for me), this dish was mucho tasty. I'm going to bank that thought on either a high quality of the seafood product (debatable) or how it was prepared.
You want to make banging shrimp at home. Take your uncooked shrimp (shell on or off, just has to be uncooked) and put it in a big saute pan with 1 CUP water, 1 CUP white wine, 1 T of minced garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper, and a dash (or three) of Old Bay seasoning. Cook the shrimp in this mixture until either the liquid simmers or the shrimp begin to curl (a sign they are cooked). Very, very simple, right? Yeah...so embrace it, because it's very, very good.
You can reduce what's left of the wine/garlic/water/seasoning to make a sauce of sorts as well. We took this reduction and incorporated it into the mayo to give it an extra seafood kick.
If I talk about all the salads in depth this will be a lengthy post, so let me hit the rest right quick. I can only talk about the shrimp dish in particular since I was responsible for making it-- the rest I'm judging off how it tasted so consider me completely objective.
The Potato Salad, the Cole Slaw, the Beet Salad, the Lentil Salad, and the Tabouli Salad-- pure and simple I didn't have any of them at service. I had a taste of the Tabouli before it was plated and found it pretty bland. I've definitely had better for sure. I go nowhere near mayo-based slaws and potato salads-- gross. Ugh. Beets are not my thing, and I couldn't get motivated to rock the lentils this morning. My plate was full enough anyway.
Waldorf Salad is OK...for a salad composed of apples essentially. The Basque Style Salad was pretty much a pepper bonanza...alright but nothing to write home about (or blog about?). I prefer more greens in my salads I guess.
The scallops were really tasty and made the accompanying salad worthwhile. The Mushrooms ala Grecque is very good...if you like mushrooms (it's essentially just mushrooms marinated for a few days in oil and seasonings). The Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing was delicious. Why? There's bacon on it...case closed.
Winners of the day had to be the Broccoli Prosciutto and Sunflower Salad (there were raisins and walnuts in it...really tied it all together) and the Dill Shrimp Salad I was responsible for. You can't go wrong with shrimp...especially well-prepared shrimp. That's not me boasting, as I would have just sauteed the shrimp in butter. Praise the Chef for intervening.
Gravlax was still lingering around from a previous day. The honey mustard made for it was more Dijon than honey-- right up my alley. I like more zip than sweet in my honey mustards. The blacked salmon (mixed with some grilled pineapple) was VERY good. Probably the best protein of the day...unless you can get past the texture of the Garlic Sausage. I feel like the Garlic Sausage would make a good lunch meat. It just seems perfect for a bit of mustard on some white bread. The homemade smoked pork we had is better than anything you'd find in the store...
These are savory turnovers made with some remaining puff pastry in Breads kitchen this morning. We stuffed ours with ham, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, thyme, pimentos and roasted red peppers. Think of these as the best Hot Pockets you have ever consumed. The four I have remaining will be my dinner tonight-- for sure.
We also made various cupcakes...but we haven't frosted them yet so no pictures of them for now. I will have more on them tomorrow so be sure to stop back!
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